Using Scents to Reinforce
What the Nose Knows Naturally

Many of our consumer products rely on scent, as we know that it helps drive a delightful experience. Our R&D experts needed to combine their insights about consumer behavior with the science of olfactory biology to ensure our scents deliver true “wow” from the first moment of truth when consumers pick up or open the package. But the scent experience can’t stop there, because consumers also rely on scent cues during and after product use. Our researchers had to understand how we biologically experience scent at every point of consumer interaction and use that understanding to inform design that delights.

Our experts in Human-Centered Innovation leveraged the latest scientific insights from olfactory biology and knowledge of human habits to better understand the role of scent in product experience. Blending those insights with our expertise in fragrance development, we identified the need for scents to vary over time to deliver the greatest delight factor. You may be familiar with the term “nose-blind,” explained in more depth for our Febreze brand of air fresheners to better understand this phenomenon of olfactory science and natural human sensory experience. Science shows that our olfactory senses become familiar with the scents that surround us. To optimize how scent is experienced, we designed intermittent and/or varying scent notes for our products to be released during use. By being human-centered, we leveraged the best of science to create the best human experience.